The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for transferring tags to articles such as box blanks, blister cards, boxes or other containers, and in particular to a very high speed surveillance tag applicator apparatus having an indexed rotating drum with a plurality of slots around the circumference of the drum for receiving surveillance tags and then transferring the tags onto the articles either perpendicular to or parallel to the direction of travel of the moving articles.
Transferring xe2x80x9ctagsxe2x80x9d with an adhesive backing from a storage material (such as mylar or other similar materials) to a target article within required specifications is extremely difficult, particularly when the target material is moving at high rates of speed. The current average speed to apply xe2x80x9ctagsxe2x80x9d is about 200 to 300 per minute. Speeds required by the industry are now 1000 tags per minute or greater.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,434, issued Dec. 16, 1952 to E. W. Jackson et al. discloses a stamp transferring mechanism for applying stamps to successive packages as they travel past a fixed point A. The mechanism comprises a rotatable mounted wheel having on its peripheral surface a plurality of protruding stamp carrying pads spaced circumferentially to correspond to the center-to-center spacing of the successive packages, a conveyor spaced from the wheel for carrying the objects past the fixed point and a motor for moving the wheel via a belt. The stamps are picked up by the stamp-carrying pads of the wheel by the contact between web and these pads, which contact occurs at a point B. However, problems occur when the product is not evenly spaced on the conveyor. xe2x80x9cTagxe2x80x9d speeds and accuracy may be compromised. The vacuum applied to the xe2x80x9ctagxe2x80x9d may not separate the xe2x80x9ctagxe2x80x9d from the web as in the case of a label. Also, this mechanism cannot handle box blanks coming at random spacing between blanks, and it cannot be rotated to put labels on at right angles to the direction of labels coming off a carrier web.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,334, issued Oct. 29, 1991 to Eugene H. Paules discloses a high speed labeling (400 articles per minute) machine for transferring labels to articles such as cans. A label reel supplies pressure sensitive labels of the carrier tape. The carrier tape is fed to a feed-on roller and then onto a label transfer wheel. The transfer wheel holds the labels by vacuum suction on label pads while the spent carrier tape is removed by uptake reel. A glue supply wheel and glue applicator wheel are used when applying non-pressure sensitive labels. However, the speed of this machine is not fast enough for the requirements of the industry. The vacuum may not hold the pitch on the drum at higher stop-and-start speeds, and this labeling machine cannot handle randomly spaced items coming to the labeler.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,239, issued Oct. 26, 1993 to Helmet Voltmer and Urs Reuteler and assigned to New Jersey Machine, Inc. of Lebanon, N.H. discloses a continuously moving web pressure-sensitive labeler. The labels are carried initially by a web from a label unwind disc to a label applying drum after passing over a tension control liner. The Drum applies a vacuum to the labels, stripping them from the web at a peel plate and carrying stripped labels to a label applying station adjacent to conveyor. A feed roll driven by a servomotor advances the web to the drum. After the labels are stripped from the web, the web is wound on a backing rewind disc after passing over a tension control liner. However, this machine relies on a continuous motion of the web and the product at preset spacing. The current xe2x80x9ctagxe2x80x9d industry has products coming at various spacings along the path of the running machine. Also, labels can only be placed in the cross direction of the labels on a carrier web, but there is a need today for labels to be applied at right angles to the direction coming off the carrier web.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,576, issued Jul. 4, 1995 to Alfred Doderer-Winkler and assigned to Winkler and Dunnebier of Neuwied, Germany discloses an apparatus for making reusable adhesive envelopes. The envelope comprises a pouch having an opening along one edge, and a top flap adapted to be folded over to close the opening. The apparatus forms the reusable seal and has two spools which mount rolls of material used to form the protective strip having an adhesive layer and adhesive portion. Each strip and adhesive portion is fed by an idle and/or tension roller and then by a metering roller which are located in proximity to an associated anvil roller rotated at a constant common speed. Each anvil roller has an associated cutter roller. The blades of the cutter rollers will sever the tapes to create strips of the tapes corresponding to the final size of the protective strip and adhesive portion. The tape strips are transferred to a placing roller which is located in proximity to the transfer roller and the conveyor means. The tape strips are pressed upon the envelopes at the desired location. However, the constant speed of this machine does not conform to the current standard of the industry. Also, the tape strips cannot be pressure applied at high speeds without skewing the tape strips or moving individual envelopes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,629, issued Oct. 14, 1997 to Ingvar Andersson and assigned to Tetra Laval Holdings and Finance S.A. discloses a method and apparatus for transferring tabs to a continuous material web. The apparatus comprises a rotating wheel with vacuum ducts for holding tabs located between a supply station and a deposit station with vacuum ducts for holding tabs. A groove extends about the periphery of the wheel and accommodates a number of retainer jaws displaced along the periphery of the wheel. When the wheel is rotated the tab is moved into contact with the work surface of one of a plurality of retainer jaws dispersed about the periphery of the wheel, and then that tab is transferred to the web at the deposit station with vacuum ducts for holding tabs on the retainer jaws. However, this is also a continuous motion machine with speeds far too slow for the current industry requirements. Surveillance tags must be applied to continuous or randomly fed articles.
Accordingly, it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a surveillance tag applicator that applies tags such as electronic article surveillance tags to articles, such as box blanks, blister cards, boxes, or other containers, at a very high rate of speed.
It is another object of the invention to receive a roll of tags attached to a web, thread a leader of the web around a portion of a drum and then to a rewind reel, and transfer each tag on the web to the rotating drum and then to one of a plurality of articles passing by the drum at a very high rate of speed.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a drum to receive tags from a web and apply the tags to articles, the drum having a plurality of slots around the circumference of the drum, each slot being narrower than the width of the tags to provide a pressure fit of the tags in each slot.
It is another object of this invention to provide a first servo motor to drive a rotating drum and a second servo motor to drive a tag ejector arm to enable the tags to be applied to articles at a very high rate of speed under the control of a programmable controller.
It is a further object of this invention to turn the tag applicator assembly comprising the tag transfer drum ninety degrees to enable tags to be applied across the width or along the length of different size articles passing by the indexed rotating drum.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide control to apply tags to every article or to random articles at fixed or variable intervals of advancing articles in accordance with preset controls.
It is another object of this invention to provide three-axis adjustment of a tag transfer drum for proper alignment with articles passing by the drum to receive the tags.
These and other objects are accomplished by an apparatus for high speed application of tags to advancing articles comprising a source of a plurality of tags on a continuous web, a tag transfer drum having a plurality of slots for engaging the plurality of tags on the continuous web as the drum rotates, means for positioning each tag of the plurality of tags into one of the plurality of slots as the tag transfer drum rotates, means for removing the web from the tags secured within the plurality of slots, and means for ejecting each of the plurality of tags onto one of the advancing articles when the advancing articles pass by the rotating drum. The apparatus comprises a rewind assembly positioned adjacent to the web for winding-up the web after removal of the web from the plurality of tags secured in the slots of the drum. The apparatus comprises means for turning the tag transfer drum ninety degrees to enable the tags to be ejected onto the advancing articles either perpendicular to the direction of travel of the advancing articles or parallel to the direction of travel of the advancing articles. The plurality of slots around the circumference of the tag transfer drum comprises means for securing the tag within the slot. The apparatus comprises a sensor for generating a registration control signal upon detection of each of the advancing articles. The apparatus comprises means for controlling the rotating drum and the ejecting of the tags in response to the control signal. The plurality of tags on the continuous web are spaced-apart at equal intervals. The controlling means comprises means for selecting which of the advancing articles receive one of the tags. The apparatus comprises means for leveling the tag transfer drum with respect to a surface of the advancing articles receiving the tags.
The objects are further accomplished by an apparatus for high speed application of tags to advancing articles comprising a source of a plurality of tags on a continuous web, a tag transfer drum having a plurality of slots for engaging the plurality of tags on the continuous web as the drum rotates, a first servo motor having a shaft to which the drum is attached for rotating the drum in predetermined increments, means positioned adjacent to the drum for pressing each tag of the plurality of tags into one of the plurality of slots as the tag transfer drum rotates, means positioned adjacent to the drum for removing the web from the tags secured within the plurality of slots of the drum, means for ejecting each of the plurality of tags onto one of the advancing articles when the advancing articles pass by the rotating drum, and a second servo means having a shaft to which the ejecting means is attached for controlling the ejecting means. The apparatus comprises a sensor for generating a registration control signal upon detection of each of the advancing articles. The apparatus comprises means coupled to the first servo means and the second servo means for controlling the rotating drum and the ejecting of the tags in response to the control signal. The means for removing the web from the tags comprises a rewind assembly for winding the web on a reel. The means for removing the web from the tags comprises a web stripper positioned adjacent to the tag transfer drum whereby the web stripper pulls the web away from the tag secured in the drum as the tag approaches a lower end of the web stripper, and the web moves under the lower end of the web stripper and then away from the web stripper lower end to the web rewind assembly. The web stripper comprises a pair of spaced-apart vertically protruding members on the face of the web stripper facing the tag transfer drum for providing additional pressure on each tag positioned in the slots of the drum to secure each tag in the slots for the high speed application of the tags to the articles. The apparatus comprises means for turning the tag transfer drum ninety degrees to enable the tags to be ejected onto the advancing articles either perpendicular to the direction of travel of the advancing articles or parallel to the direction of travel of the advancing articles in accordance with a predetermined position for the turning means. Each of the plurality of slots around the circumference of the tag transfer drum comprises a pressure fit for holding each of the tags. The plurality of tags on the continuous web are spaced-apart at equal intervals. The controlling means further comprises means for selecting which of the advancing articles receives one of said tags. The apparatus comprises means for leveling the tag transfer drum with respect to a surface of the advancing articles receiving one of the tags.
The objects are further accomplished by a method of applying tags at high speed to advancing articles comprising the steps of supplying a plurality of tags on a tag carrier web to a tag transfer drum, engaging the tag carrier web on the tag transfer drum with means for placing each of the plurality of tags into one of a plurality of slots around the circumference of the tag transfer drum, rotating the drum to engage a next one of the plurality of tags in a next slot of the drum, extending at least one ejector finger into a groove around the circumference of the drum, removing the web from each of the tags secured into the slots as the drum is rotated, and ejecting each of the tags onto an advancing one of the articles with the ejector finger. The method comprises the step of winding-up the web removed from the tags on a reel as the drum is rotated. The method comprises the step of turning the tag transfer drum ninety degrees to enable the tags to be ejected onto the advancing articles either perpendicular to the direction of travel of the advancing articles or parallel to the direction of travel of the advancing articles. The step of engaging the tag carrier web and the tag transfer drum by means for pressing each of the tags into one of the plurality of slots around the circumference of the tag transfer drum comprises the step of providing a pressure fit in each of the slots for securing each of the tags within the slots. The method comprises the step of providing a web stripper positioned adjacent to the tag transfer drum whereby the web stripper pulls the web away from each of the tags as the tags approach a lower end of the web stripper and the web travels under the lower end of the web stripper and to a web rewind assembly. The step of providing a web stripper comprises the step of providing a pair of spaced-apart vertical protruding members on the face of the web stripper adjacent to the tag transfer drum for providing an additional pressure on each tag positioned in the slots of the drum to secure the tags in the slots. The method comprises the step of providing a sensor for generating a control signal upon detection of each of the advancing articles. The method comprises the step of providing a controller for controlling the rotation of the drum following transfer of one of the tags in the slots of the drum onto the advancing articles in response to the control signal. The step of providing a controller comprises the step of selecting which ones of the advancing articles receive one of the tags. The method comprises the step of leveling the tag transfer drum to be parallel to a surface of the advancing articles receiving one of the tags.
The objects are further accomplished by a method of applying tags at high speed to advancing articles comprising the steps of supplying a plurality of tags on a tag carrier web to a tag transfer drum, engaging the tag carrier web on the tag transfer drum with means for pressing each of the plurality of tags into one of a plurality of slots around the circumference of the tag transfer drum, providing a first servo means having a shaft to which the tag transfer drum is attached for rotating the drum in predetermined increments, generating a sensor signal upon detection of each of the advancing articles approaching the drum, removing the web from the tags secured within the plurality of slots of the drum with a web stripper which provides a secondary pressure on the tags in the slots, winding the web devoid of the tags on a reel, extending at least one ejector finger of an ejecting means into a groove around the circumference of the tag transfer drum, providing a second servo means having a shaft on which the ejecting means is attached for controlling the ejector finger, ejecting each of the tags on the drum onto one of the advancing articles with the ejector finger, and controlling the rotation of the drum and the ejecting means in response to the sensor signal with a programmable controller coupled to the first servo means and the second servo means. The method comprises the step of turning the tag transfer drum ninety degrees to enable the tags to be ejected onto the advancing articles either perpendicular to the direction of travel of the advancing articles or parallel to the direction of travel of the advancing articles. The method comprises the step of leveling the tag transfer drum to be parallel to a surface of each of the advancing articles receiving one of the tags.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.